The fundamental problem with Good Engineers is "Perfectionism".
The fundamental problem with Good Engineers is "Perfectionism".
Businesses are troubled by high cost and slow movement of engineering work.
Startup Businesses require fast iterations for searching product fitment to the market.
Establish Businesses too require fast development to defend the position and maintain the quality of complex work.
Speed is the ultimate tactic,
Quality is the only goal to follow.
Every CEO must know...
"how to curb perfection tendencies so that business will innovate fast and attack the competition"
The Good!
The obvious question, Good Engineers may ask...
"then doing just any dirty working shortcut patch is what you recommend a work standard?"
To Good Engineers always believe...
Making Things has Art in it,
and Art coms from Perfection.
Good vs Great!
There is a subtle difference in Good and Great engineers
Great Engineers are Minimalist and Simplifiers,
Great Engineer is always Artist in his Minimalism
Great Engineers live in the Real World.
They have an immense sense of...
We all have limited energy, time and budget,
Complexity can easily swallow last available $ or second,and still no guarantee of useful result
Great Engineers can differentiate Quality and Grade,
while most Good Engineers are magnificently confused in Quality and Grade.
Great Engineers often choose perfect Quality and required Grade possible in permissible time-costs
while most Good Engineers suffer YAGNI Blindness because Perfectionism skews everything
To Great Engineers,
Art need not equate to Quality,
Art need not equate to relevance to the current application,
Art can be simple… not necessarily complexity
while most good Engineers
Art is Completeness in all aspects in their specific pet manner
Art vs Engineering
Fundamentally, Engineering is about "Application of Science".
While Art is beauty perceived through senses or understanding for the arrangements, structure, working or design that comes from controlled order and detailing which often requires creativity
There is grand confusion everywhere as Engineering is considered Art
Case of Art
Engineering work can be an Artwork too.
Art and culture always flourish when there are sponsors to it. Mainly Monarch and Royals, who have an unlimited budget to spend on your perfect Art.
Art is never cheap,
even to buy or make
Surprisingly most artists are never rich. Must be some serious $-in vs $-out the problem or no-demand problem. Many attend fame and value after they die.
Art is costly, because…
Creativity is searching an appealing option from endless possibilities.
Some are naturally good at it while most can attend it through deliberation.
Making things more Artful may require more work and means than usual mainstream common things built with Goldilocks conditions of cost and complexity.
If simpler and efforts saving condition is discovered, it is more likely to become mainstream
Art exists in all times, but it flourishes to peak before civilizations collapse.
Art is an essential element, but how much to deliver now is wisdom.
Pragmatic Business case
Real business is a "Survival Strategy" game, just like real life.
You got to be most powerful to increase your odds.
Be monopolist like Monarch.
Pragmatic fact is
Results matter more, but the budget remains the same
You always spot an Immature Engineer by his motivation to make Grand or overly-detailed things.
Over-engineering is his symptom.
Dreams are good but don’t pay for your dreams from the company’s pocket.
Company's dream may be different, to become most profitable or #1 market leader and your derived dream may have poor alignment to it.
Stressing Business Survival
Uncontrolled costs lead to self-kill.
Businesses are often shut down when there is no money left to operate.
Businesses are killed because cash outflow is more than cash inflow.
Every company needs to be Froogle in its functional activities.
Don't act as if Monarch is your sponsor.
Cut costs in making things.
Deliver the best Quality at varying Grade.
Engineers can take Organization down with their Perfectionism!
Mindless Perfectionism is a Lose-Lose game.
Perfectionism brings high costs by introducing complexity and over-engineering which leads to less time and $ left for attending required Quality
Complexity leads to more bugs, less manoeuvrability, less manageability,…
Over-Engineering leads to unnecessary costs in making and also cost when change required.
Minimalism is the answer.
